Month: November 2009

This Saturday, with much help from Gabbi, we got our decorations down from the garage attic and started putting up our Christmas decor, starting with the tree.

While we decorated the tree Isabel played inside the tree box…for a little while anyway.

Gabbi and I worked on “fluffing” the branches while Gino did the lights.

Isabel waiting patiently for us to get through so she could put up ornaments.

Isabel and Gabbi just kicking back while we decide what to do next.

Gabbi did the honors of putting the bead garland on.

Afterward we were finished for the night because it was time for Isabel to go to bed and she really wanted to decorate the tree (that’s her favorite part!). So we waited until the following afternoon to finish decorating the tree…which reminds me, I need to get a finished picture. Isabel did a great job (followed by Gabbi who spread the ornaments out a bit and me putting up the fragile ones!).

This year was a special one for the Espinoza household; we had guests for Thanksgiving! Our friend Dale and my cousin Gabbi! We had a early dinner with all the fixings and then spent the remainder of the evening playing Wii and watching movies. Good times!

I haven’t added any of Isabel’s cutting projects since April but we have done them! We worked with the scissors yesterday and she seems to do o.k., she just needs more practice, practice, practice! She worked on a spiral cut, a zig-zag cut, and other “turning of the paper” projects. A few times she had me worried about her little fingers but after refocusing, she got her hands out of the way. Enjoy!

Her cutting projects; spiral, square, zig-zag and triangle.
She is actually almost finished with her Kumon First Steps Series Let’s Cut Paper book.
So I’ll have to find more projects online or come up with idea’s on my own.

This project was one that I did find on the internet and was a 4-fold project.
She had to color, cut, arrange the letters in the correct order,
and then paste them to the paper.

The finished project. I have the rest of the alphabet (and numbers too) but we’ll work on that another day.

More practice name writing as well. The top one she did better on; the bottom one I have no idea what she was trying to spell!

Today, Isabel and I played her word building game (for the first time – we usually just play the matching game) and she did really well. She looked at each picture and sounded out the words all by herself. She only needed my help with a few of them. I was really pleased with her accomplishment! Enjoy!

Word building game or you can flip the “word” side over and play a “matching” game with the Pooh, Piglet Tigger, Darby, Buster, and Eeyore.

Gino headed to Texas this past week to spend time with his brother, Ron and family. The plan was for the two of them to attend an NBA game (which they did) and then the following night go to a Stryper concert. Unfortunately, the concert was postponed until December (We later learned the band had the flu)! What a bummer!

American Airlines Center in Dallas

The game was between the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz. Dallas won.